Saturday, July 26, 2008

Days 1 and 2

Fans of Sam,

This is Sam's friend Dave - I'll be posting updates on Sam's progress as I receive them. Kirsten is doing her best to call me with updates when she has cellphone reception, which can be a bit spotty. I just heard from Kirsten, who is in Breckenridge while Sam and Brock make their way down the trail.

As far as first days for 483-mile runs go, Friday had its typical surprises. Sam and the crew started at 6:30 on Friday morning and didn't set up camp until 3:45 AM on Saturday. Although the terrain wasn't too technical, very hot weather combined with the high altitude gave Sam some pain, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't overcome by day's end. A forrest fire on the trail a few years ago also meant that there was little shade for Sam.

In mid-afternoon, Kirsten joined Sam and Brock for the third segment of the trail. A serious thunderstorm (complete with driving hail) compelled the three runners to quicken their pace, but running in foul weather is nothing new to these guys so they stuck with it.

After the 72-mile first day, Sam, Kirsten, and Brock finally went to sleep at 3:45 on Saturday morning, only to get up at 6:00 AM. The weather is much better for today's 71-mile run, and Kirsten anticipates that bedtime will come around 4:00 tomorrow morning.

I'll keep everyone updated once I hear any news. Keep the comments coming and I'll relay them to Kirsten.

3 comments:

hi sam its your teamate di......hows the rocky mountain high going !! isnt it aweomse. look up --look around-- and smile !!! remember im on your left shoulder and talking in your ear....... go get em! one day at a time and gosh how awesome to have kirsten out there to get a kiss from every now and then......now thats an insentive! you go girl way to support sam. i admire you for what you are doing! take care my friends.... may the wind be at your back....love ya di